Hong Kong cruised to a comfortable four-wicket win after chasing down 163 in the last over against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Tanwir Afzal clobbered two fours and three sixes in his 42•Graham Crouch/IDI/Getty

Hong Kong cruised to a comfortable four-wicket win after chasing down 163 in the last over against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi. Tanwir Afzal blitzed a 22-ball 42, an innings that featured two fours and three sixes, to swing the momentum in Hong Kong’s favour after they were stuttering at 89 for 4 in the 12th over.Hong Kong’s chase began slowly and the team soon also lost Kinchit Shah in the third over for 2. Though they managed to stitch substantial partnerships thereafter through brisk contributions from Babar Hayat (35 off 18), Mark Chapman (22) and Nizakat Khan (26), frequent wickets meant Afghanistan were still in with a shot.Afzal and Nizakat added 55 for the fifth wicket in just 30 balls as the match drifted away from Afghanistan, and an equation of 24 off the last four overs was easily achieved in the end with two balls to spare. Karim Sadiq, Aftab Alam and Rokhan Barakzai picked up two wickets apiece.Earlier, Afghanistan lost both their openers within the first four overs after choosing to bat. Asghar Stanikzai (51) then struck a counterattacking half-century and combined with Sadiq (22) and Samiullah Shenwari (34) in stands of 34 and 63 respectively to set up a strong platform for a late surge. Shafiqullah provided the required impetus late in the innings with a 16-ball 30 to lift Afghanistan to a score of 162 for 6.

Dharamsala will host the World Twenty20 match between India and Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-20153:56

World T20 groups evenly matched – Richardson

Dharamsala will host the World Twenty20 2016 match between India and Pakistan on March 19 while the tournament semi-finals will be played in Delhi and Mumbai, according to the fixtures released by the ICC on Friday. The men’s event will be played in two stages between March 8 and April 3, while the Women’s World Twenty20 is scheduled between March 15 and April 3.Chennai, which was in danger of being cut as a host city due to the disputed stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, has been allotted women’s matches.India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia are placed in Group 2 of the Super 10s stage while South Africa, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka are in Group 1. Two teams will join the Super 10s after the first stage of the tournament, to be held in Dharamsala and Nagpur between March 8 and 13.The eight teams competing in the first round have also been split into two groups. Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland and Oman have been slotted into Group A, while Group B comprises Zimbabwe, Scotland, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. The top team from Group A will join India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand in Group 2 of the Super 10s stage, while the top-placed team from Group B moves to Group 1.The opening match of the Super 10s stage will be played between India and New Zealand on March 15 in Nagpur. The hosts will then play Pakistan on March 19, the qualifying team in the group on March 23 in Bangalore and Australia in Mohali on March 27.The top two sides from each of the Super 10s groups will move into the semi-finals. The semi-finals of the men’s and women’s tournaments will be played in Delhi and Mumbai on March 30 and 31 respectively, with the finals in Kolkata on April 3. Pakistan, should they qualify, will play their semi-final in New Delhi regardless of whether they place first or second in their group; the other qualifier from their group will play the semi-final allotted to Mumbai.This will avoid a scenario where Pakistan play in Mumbai, where a local political party, the Shiv Sena, has for several years “banned” Pakistan matches in that city. The most recent protest was in October, when Shiv Sena held protests at the BCCI office in Mumbai over talks between the India and Pakistan boards for a proposed series. Following the protests, the ICC withdrew Aleem Dar from the last two ODIs of the South Africa series [the fifth match was held in Mumbai] and former Pakistan cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, who were in India on commentary duty, also returned home early.Defending champions Sri Lanka will begin their campaign against the qualifying team on March 17 in Kolkata, before playing West Indies in Bangalore on March 20. Their matches against England and South Africa will be played in Delhi on March 26 and 28 respectively.The women’s tournament will kick off from March 15 with India taking on Bangladesh and New Zealand playing Sri Lanka. The 10 teams in the women’s competition have been split into two groups. Three-time champions Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ireland are in Group A, while Group B features England, West Indies, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-final stage.

MS Dhoni has called for balance when it comes to intruding the field of play for TV gimmicks, after the first ball faced by Virat Kohli hit the spider cam and was called dead

Sidharth Monga23-Jan-2016The first ball Virat Kohli faced in a tight and ultimately successful chase at SCG should have gone for four runs. Instead, the ball was called dead because it hit the spidercam on its way to the boundary. In the last Test that India had played at the SCG, Steven Smith dropped a sitter from KL Rahul because he was distracted by the spidercam. The ball might have even flicked the cable. India eventually won the fifth ODI, but who knows if Australia would have been held to a draw had Rahul not gone on to score a century in the Test last year?MS Dhoni, India’s limited-overs captain, has called for balance when it comes to intruding the field of play for TV gimmicks. He has also spoken about other gimmicks that have mushroomed with the advent of Twenty20. “I am quite a traditional guy,” Dhoni said. “I have always felt that… anything that disturbs the game of cricket I don’t like it. It all started right from the T20 where people would be like, ‘Why don’t you wear a mic?’, ‘Why don’t you wear a camera?'”I have always felt there is a need for balance. At the end of the day it is a spectator sport, people watching on television, but at the same time four runs can matter, especially when it is a close game. Those four runs can be crucial. Everyone gets penalised, why not have the same system for the spidercam? Say, ‘Okay if you get hit, 2000 dollars per hit.’ Let’s make it interesting.”People [broadcasters] are striving for more. When you have got out and walking off, the cameraman goes right under your face. The same way the spidercam is right next to you. You have seen players, they are like, ‘What is happening?’ It makes a lot of noise. At the end of the day it is also about the spectators. If spectators are not there, cricket won’t be played. It is a mix and match; 2000 dollars per hit is a good option.”During the Sydney Test last year, the camera was moved higher and away from the field of play rapidly after the incident. This time, though, the upper-cut from Kohli was not even a skier. Back then, a joint statement from Channel Nine and Cricket Australia said: “We have spoken about the matter involving spidercam and the dropped catch before lunch and it’s clear the ball did not hit the camera or its supporting wires. Captain Steve Smith was distracted by one of the wires in his eye line. Both CA and Nine will continue to work together on the use of spidercam in the broadcast coverage and will take on board any player feedback as necessary. As it stands, if any player has a concern about the placement of spidercam they can ask the umpires for it to be moved.”Dhoni’s larger point about the intrusion into the players’ space might hold some resonance too, especially shoving cameras up their faces when they have just got out or doing interviews just after their dismissals. Such interviews were the centre of conversation when, earlier in the Australian summer, Chris Gayle infamously made a female reporter uncomfortable in an interview as soon as he had walked off the field.

Centuries by Rajat Patidar and Harpreet Singh in the second innings and Ishwar Pandey’s match-haul of eight wickets helped Madhya Pradesh seal a spot in 2015-16 Ranji Trophy semi-final with a colossal 355-run win over Bengal

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Ishwar Pandey finished with match figures of 8 for 138•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Centuries by Rajat Patidar and Harpreet Singh in the second innings and Ishwar Pandey’s match-haul of eight wickets helped Madhya Pradesh seal a spot in 2015-16 Ranji Trophy semi-final with a 355-run win over Bengal. In the improbable task of chasing down 788 in the final innings, Bengal’s Manoj Tiwary and Pankaj Shaw struck fighting hundreds, but it was not enough as their side folded for 432 on the final day.Coming in with the score at 69 for 2, captain Tiwary took 160 balls to score his 124 that included 14 fours and three sixes. His innings saw Bengal past 250 before he was the sixth man to fall. Tiwary shared a sixth-wicket stand of 108 with Shaw, who scored his maiden first-class century. Shaw carried on after Tiwary fell, stroking 13 fours and four sixes in his 137-ball 118. He also built lower order partnerships of 58 and 78 with Pragyan Ojha and Ashok Dinda (52) respectively. Pandey and debutant Chandrakant Sakure led the charge for MP’s bowlers, picking match-hauls of 8 for 138 and 6 for 152 respectively.

A surface that quite green in the lead up to the Test, combined with the knowledge that the track generally flattens out, meant Brendon McCullum had no hesitation in saying: “Both teams will want to bowl if they win the toss”

Brydon Coverdale11-Feb-20161:54

‘Must adapt to conditions better’ – Smith

Fifteen wickets fell on the first day of the most recent Basin Reserve Test. The time before that it was 12. This time, who knows? But a surface that was more pitch-tinged green than green-tinged pitch, combined with the knowledge that the track generally flattens out and becomes easier for batting, meant New Zealand’s captain Brendon McCullum had no hesitation in speaking on behalf of both teams on match eve.”It’s fair to say both teams will want to bowl if they win the toss,” McCullum said.By comparison, Steven Smith was sitting on the Basin’s quaint picket fence when he declared that he would wait and see how the surface looked on Friday morning. “Traditionally the wickets here don’t play quite as bad as they look,” Smith said.For that knowledge he has had to trust secondary sources, for no Australians in this current squad have played a Test in New Zealand; McCullum is about to play his 17th at the Basin Reserve alone. It is a venue with some fine recent memories for McCullum, who made 302 there in the second innings against India two years ago. There will be some finer memories if he helps New Zealand to a Trans-Tasman win there now.And if indeed there is some swing on the first morning, and if indeed McCullum does win the toss and inserts Australia, it will be fascinating to see if Smith’s men have learnt from their failures in England during last year’s Ashes campaign. There, they were swung out for 136 at Edgbaston and 60 at Trent Bridge. Here there is no Stuart Broad or James Anderson to face, but there is a Trent Boult and a Tim Southee.”The way they played in those seamer-friendly conditions is certainly something we can look at,” McCullum said. “We’ve got a very good bowling line-up who will swing the ball and if the conditions do favour us, I’m confident we’ll ask some tough questions.”Our batting line-up is pretty similar to England; we’ve got some stroke-makers and some graft players. If you bat first, it’s a matter of getting through those tough times and hanging in the game because it can change so late.”On match eve, Smith was the first to admit that his team had something to prove in swinging and seaming conditions; their mountains of runs during the home summer all came on flat pitches with little assistance for the bowlers. The Australians like to dominate when batting and use attack as a form of defence, but Smith acknowledged that sometimes defence was the best form of defence.”You’ve got to play the ball under your eyes, you can’t really push out in front of yourself,” Smith said. “I think that’s one of the most important things. Making sure you’re leaving really well, being patient, and then if someone bowls a loose ball you’ve got to climb into it… Hopefully we’ve learnt from the way we played in England and we can adapt to whatever we’re faced with out there.”I think you do have to rein it back in at times. If someone is bowling well, whether it be on a flat wicket or a wicket that’s doing a bit, you have to adapt to what’s going on out there and rein it back in and wait for those loose balls. That’s what Test cricket is all about. Batting time is key, and hopefully some of our batters can bat some long periods out here and get us some big scores like we had back home in the summer.”One man the Australians will almost certainly go after is the offspinner Mark Craig, who finished the recent Test series in Australia with the unflattering figures of 8 for 513, most of his wickets coming late in innings where Australia already had huge totals.”I thought the boys played him really well back in Australia,” Smith said. “I think the conditions are a little bit different here. The wicket has a little bit of grass on it, so it could potentially take a little bit of spin, I’m not too sure yet. I think if the wicket is nipping around a bit when the spinner comes on, I think he is certainly someone we can look to go after. But we’ll just have to sum that up as the game goes on.”The lure for New Zealand in this series is the chance to lift the Trans-Tasman Trophy for the first time since 1993; Australia have not only the desire to keep their tight grip on the trophy, but also the added incentive of the No. 1 Test ranking. If they win the series they will jump to No. 1 for the first time since 2014.”We want to be No. 1 in all formats of the game,” Smith said. “That’s our goal as a side. I guess you sort of have to put it in the back of your mind and focus on each game as it comes. I’m sure if we play well we’ll have a lot of success on this tour. Obviously New Zealand are a very good side in these conditions so we’re going to have to be at our best if we’re going to beat them. But yeah, of course we’d love to be No. 1 at the end of this series.”

Victoria have added Clint McKay to a 13-man squad for the Sheffield Shield final against South Australia, in anticipation of a well-grassed pitch

Daniel Brettig22-Mar-2016Victoria have added Clint McKay to a 13-man squad for the Sheffield Shield final, in anticipation of a well-grassed pitch for the competition decider against a South Australia combination that has not played in a draw all season.The Redbacks surged late in the season to claim the top spot on the ladder as the Bushrangers faded, largely through the strong work of the seam bowling trio of Joe Mennie, Chadd Sayers and Daniel Worrall. Their final victory was a two-day romp over Tasmania on a surface that offered some help to the seamers at Glenelg Oval, the same venue where the final will be played, starting on Saturday.While a stalemate will secure the Shield for SA and Victoria need an outright result, the inclusion of McKay suggests the Bushrangers are half expecting the kind of pitch that will encourage seamers, after they used the twin spin of Fawad Ahmed and Jon Holland in Alice Springs against New South Wales.”Clint McKay comes in as it is important to cover all options until we have a look at the wicket,” Andrew Lynch, the chairman of selectors, said. “It was nice to get a tough, hard game under our belts last week and the boys have freshened this week and will be ready to go.”It was great to see Cam White and Marcus Stoinis in the runs, so, hopefully, the rest of our batters can follow their lead as we are confident we have the bowlers to claim 20 wickets.”The Bushrangers and Redbacks have traded outright results this season, SA victorious at the MCG while the Victorians prevailed at the Adelaide Oval. They were also successful in their one previous visit to Glenelg last season.SA’s squad for their first Shield final in 20 years in unchanged from the group that overpowered Tasmania in the last round to leap into a home decider.South Australia squad: Travis Head (capt), Thomas Andrews, Alex Carey (wk), Mark Cosgrove, Jake Lehmann, Joe Mennie, Elliot Opie, Sam Raphael, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers, Jake Weatherald, Daniel WorrallVictoria squad: Matthew Wade (capt, wk), Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Dan Christian, Travis Dean, Peter Handscomb, Ian Holland, Jon Holland, Clint McKay, Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Tremain, Cameron White